Health Inspectors and Film Crews

Good news folks. We passed our annual camp inspection. Or at least, I'm pretty sure we did. We haven't yet received official word, but the inspectors certainly seemed happy enough. They walk around and check all the common areas for electrical wiring, sanitation, vector control (that's pest control to you and me) and make sure everything is up to code. It was last year's inspection that lead to us having to install the kitchen stove hood fire suppression system which cost us about $7,000 in the end, so it's always a relief to pass it with out being told that any major work is required.

Today was the funeral service for Rakusan. The service went well and many of his friends and family attended. It was a suitably beautiful service for a man that meant a lot to so many people. I miss the guy.

This week we also had a TV crew at Yokoji, shooting for a local San Diego cable show called 'Aspire'. The host is a spiritual practitioner who talks about various religions, and this time I guess it was Zen Buddhism. They shot eight shows up here and interviewed Tenshin Roshi, which is presumably a short seasons worth. I'll post details of broadcast times and dates when we know. The connection for this was actually through Rakusan, as Gregory, the host, was one of his teachers from earlier on in his life. As Roshi said today during the talk, it's hard to believe that Kevin has passed as so much of him still lives on.

On to the almost routine listing of current mechanical ailments: the GMC, it turns out, as the mechanic was taking it apart to get to the clutch, does not need a new clutch (although the throwout bearing which is part of the clutch assembly did need replacing). The problem was the transfer case (the part that gives power to the front wheels during 4WD operation), which in this case is bolted directly on to the back of the transmission, has a male input shaft that is powered from a female in the back of the transmission. This had sheared off. It is probably about an inch in diameter, so it took a lot of force to actually do this. I guess trying to tow a dead weight of 3 or 4 tons uphill with a truck that has a 454 engine replacing the stock 350 is a recipe for stuff breaking, and this shaft is what broke. The transfer case is currently down in Hemet being given some TLC by the guys at Pat's Gearbox - who have years of expertise in this kind of thing. Any day now stuff will stop breaking. I'm sure of it. Touch wood. Fingers crossed.